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Gustave Doré’s engraving of David standing crowned and bowed as he mourns Absalom

Psalm 91

What St Athanasius said to pray when you’re tired of living afraid, in a letter from the 300s.

  • 16Verses
  • 1Situation

St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus

When to pray it

In the 300s, St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to his friend Marcellinus about praying the Psalms. In it he matched psalms to what people go through. This is what he gave this one for.

You're tired of living afraid, and you want to take heart in God, and help others take heart too.

To encourage yourself and others in reverence for God, and to show that hope in God never puts you to shame but makes the soul unafraid, praise God with Psalm 91.

Letter to Marcellinus

Psalm 91:5

Where it turns

You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

16 verses, Berean Standard Bible

The whole psalm

Psalm 91

  1. 1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
  2. 2I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
  3. 3Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.
  4. 4He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
  5. 5You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
  6. 6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon.
  7. 7Though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, no harm will come near you.
  8. 8You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked.
  9. 9Because you have made the LORD your dwelling— my refuge, the Most High—
  10. 10no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent.
  11. 11For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
  12. 12They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
  13. 13You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.
  14. 14“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
  15. 15When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
  16. 16With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

Psalm 91 is 90 in the Greek numbering Athanasius used, which Orthodox Bibles and some older Catholic ones still follow.

When you're afraid, worn down, or longing for God

Close to this

All 53 situations, in one guide.

Your turn

Which Psalm are you living right now?

A few honest taps about your life right now, and the psalm an early Church Father gave for exactly that.

  • 3 min
  • 7 questions
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Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Athanasius’s advice is paraphrased from his Greek.